First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Increases Position in Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its stake in Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 422,336 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,606 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Banco Santander were worth $1,748,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in SAN. Sage Rhino Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Banco Santander by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 48,690 shares of the bank’s stock worth $202,000 after acquiring an additional 2,695 shares during the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN boosted its position in shares of Banco Santander by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 40,521 shares of the bank’s stock worth $168,000 after acquiring an additional 2,739 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Banco Santander by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 42,345 shares of the bank’s stock worth $175,000 after acquiring an additional 2,804 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Banco Santander by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 30,757 shares of the bank’s stock worth $127,000 after purchasing an additional 2,896 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keybank National Association OH lifted its position in shares of Banco Santander by 17.6% during the third quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 22,688 shares of the bank’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 3,393 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Barclays upgraded shares of Banco Santander from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th.

Banco Santander Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:SAN traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $4.84. The company had a trading volume of 500,492 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,232,645. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.24, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $4.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.66, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.19. Banco Santander, S.A. has a one year low of $3.20 and a one year high of $5.17.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The bank reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.18. Banco Santander had a net margin of 14.98% and a return on equity of 11.00%. The firm had revenue of $15.67 billion during the quarter. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.14 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Banco Santander, S.A. will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Banco Santander Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.1027 per share. This is an increase from Banco Santander’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a dividend yield of 3.2%. Banco Santander’s payout ratio is 20.83%.

Banco Santander Profile

Banco Santander, SA provides various financial services worldwide. The company operates through Retail Banking, Santander Corporate & Investment Banking, Wealth Management & Insurance, and PagoNxt segments. It offers demand and time deposits, mutual funds, and current and savings accounts; mortgages, consumer finance, loans, and various financing solutions; and project finance, debt capital markets, global transaction banking, and corporate finance services.